Scientists discover YaraVirus in Brazil

biorxiv.org/ Image credit: Original Image

Scientists discover Yaravirus in Brazil, full report in biorxiv.org. Yaravirus is a new lineage of amoebal virus with a puzzling origin and phylogeny. 

Earth said: just cleansing the TL 😌✨ https://t.co/hE0ww7lILG

— elle (@ellevargaz) February 11, 2020

The so-called Yaravirus, named after Yara – or Iara, a water-queen figure in Brazilian mythology – was recovered from Lake Pampulha, an artificial lake in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte.

While Yaravirus (Yaravirus brasiliensis) may be no supernatural siren, the virus could prove to be just as mysterious as the water nymph of legend.

Negative staining of an isolated Yaravirus virion. (Boratto et al., 2020, bioRxiv)

All currently known isolated amoebal viruses are related to nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs). However, Yaravirus is an entity that could represent either the first isolated virus of Acanthamoeba spp.

Scientists discover Yaravirus in Brazil and the bizarre virus has not been seen in any other animals.

As for what Yaravirus actually is then, the scientists can only speculate for now, but suggest it could be the first isolated case of an unknown group of amoebal virus, or potentially a distant kind of giant virus that may somehow have evolved into a reduced form.

Either way, it’s clear we still have an awful lot to learn, the researchers say.

For the update on the Corona Virus death toll that has reached 1000 now, click here